CINNYEIS AUKICEPS. 



(MOLUCCAN BLACK SUN-BIRD.) 



Nectarinia auriceps, Gray, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 348 ; Wallace, P. Z. S. 1862, pp. 335, 343 ; 



Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 163 (1865). 

 Promerops auriceps, Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 110. no. 1357 (1869). 

 Chalcostetha auriceps, Walden, Ibis, 1870, p. 46 ; Meyer, Sitz. k. Ak. Wissensch. Wien, lxx. 



p. 123 (1874). 

 Hermotimia auriceps, Salvad. Atti R. Ace. Torino, x. pp. 208, 228 (1874) ; xii. p. 309 (1877). 

 Nectarinia porpihyrolcema, Bnigg. Abhandl. nat. Ver. Bremen, v. p. 73. no. 77 (1876). 



tf ad. niger, pileo summo virescenti-aureo : tectricibus alarum minimis et medianis, scapularibus, dorso postico, 

 supracaudalibus et rectricum marginibus chalybeis plus minusve violaceo nitentibus i mento gulaque 

 chalybeis dorso postico concoloribus. 



$ ad. pileo summo colloque cinerascenti-brunneis : dorso scapularibusque olivaceis : alis saturate brunneis, 

 pennis omnibus olivaceo marginatis : rectricibus nigris, albo terminatis, duabus centralibus haud 

 apicatis, externis latius : mento gulaque albis : pectore, abdomine et subcaudalibus pallide flavis. 



<S juv. similis feminse adultse, sed pileo colloque postico olivaceo lavatis, mento gulaque pallide flavis pectori 

 concoloribus. 



Hab. in insulis Moluccensibus " Gilolo," " Batchian," " Ternate," " Kaioa," " Tifore/ J " Sula/' et " Celebes " 

 dictis. 



Adult Male. Black with a deep blue gloss; the entire crown metallic greenish gold; the least and median 

 series of wing-coverts, scapulars, lower half of the back, and the upper tail-coverts steel-blue, more or 

 less shaded with violet ; in some specimens a few of the greater wing-coverts, and in all the tail-feathers, 

 are broadly edged with steel-blue ; chin and throat of the same shade of steel-blue as the lower back ; 

 bill and legs black; irides dark brown. Total length 4"5 inches, culmen 065, wing 2 - 4, tail l - 8, 

 tarsus 0"6. 



Adult Female. Upper part of the head and the back of the neck ashy brown ; back and scapulars olive ; 

 wings brown, the feathers with broad olive edges, which on the quills have a slightly more yellow 

 shade ; tail black with white ends to all but the centre feathers, the white tips broadest on the outer 

 ones ; chin and throat white ; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts pale yellow ; under wing-coverts 

 and inner margins of the quills white, the former slightly shaded with sulphur-yellow ; bill and legs 

 black; irides dark brown. Total length 4 - l inches, culmen 065, wing 2 - l, tail T6, tarsus - 55. 



Young Male. Very similar to the adult female, but with the upper parts of the head and back of the neck 

 shaded with olive, and the chin and throat pale yellow like the breast. The feathers of the abdomen 

 are of a downy texture, indicative of youth. Total length 3 # 9 inches, culmen - 6, wing 2'0, tail U4, 

 tarsus 0"55. 



Male in moult. Similar to the female, with the metallic portions beginning to show on the crown, upper 

 tail-coverts, and the sides of the throat. 



Hab. Moluccas : islands of Gilolo, Batchian, Ternate, Kaioa, Tifore, Sula Islands, and Celebes. 



z2 



